creating people advantage reflections on leadership · creating people advantage reflections on...

Executive MBA Cambridge January 2011

Creating People Advantage Reflections on Leadership

Professor Paul Turner Ashcroft International Business School

Cambridge

Workforce planning right people, right time, right skills


Paul Turner is Professor of Management Practice at Ashcroft International Business School and a Non Executive Director on the European Advisory Boards of Blessing White and OPI. He was formerly President of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Employee Care for the Convergys Corporation, responsible for the HRBPO business across the region. Paul joined Convergys in 2003 as Vice President for both EMEA and ASPAC.

Paul Turner was previously Group HR Business Director for Lloyds TSB and Vice President of the CIPD as well as a Director of BT and Executive in Residence at Nottingham Business School. He has experience of working in both human resources and general management in the banking, telecommunications and health sectors in the UK. His international assignments include a period of living and working in Hong Kong, taking responsibility for markets in China and Japan, as well as business development covering the USA, Europe, Africa and India. He also worked in marketing financial trading systems in New York, Frankfurt and London.

Paul obtained a first degree from the University of East Anglia, a PhD from the University of Sheffield and is a Companion of the CIPD. He has written extensively on management subjects and has spoken at conferences in New York, Nashville, Paris, Budapest, Geneva, Montreux and Brussels as well as the CIPD national conferences in Harrogate and London.

Paul Turner is the author of HR Forecasting and Planning (2002) and Organizational Communication (2003), and joint author of Talent: Strategy, Management, Measurement (2007) and Workforce Planning (2010) published by the CIPD. Paul’s book The Admirable Company (with Michael Brown) was published in 2008.


A case study in leadership

‘his approach is worthy of emulation.

1.distance yourself from the past 2.survey the scene

3.identify the problem areas 4.accentuate the positive

5.make initial gains and build on them.’


Reflections on leadership A timeline-1974-2011

2011

2000’s

1990’s

1980’s

1970’s

What can we learn about leadership

from this eclectic mix?


Leadership is critical to success 1.Who do you think of as Leaders?

2.What are the characteristics of Leadership?


Research findings on characteristics of good leaders: 4000 managers surveyed

•  Charisma •  Clear vision and strategic objectives •  Decisiveness •  Inspiring communicator •  Integrity •  Trust and delegation •  Approachable •  Encouraging staff to challenge traditional approaches •  Honest and consistent •  Analytical and creative thinking •  Clarifies objectives •  A genuine interest in staff

Alimo-Metcalfe B and Alban-Metcalfe J (2003) Under the Influence, People Management, 16 March, pp32-5


There has been a good deal of research into the traits of effective

leaders


8

‘Leaders mobilise others to want to get extraordinary things done in organisations… leaders transform values into actions, visions

into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, risks into

rewards….leadership creates a climate in which people turn challenging

opportunities into remarkable successes’

Kouzes and Posner- ‘Leadership Challenge,’ 2003


Biggest UK study of leadership

•  Decisiveness, determination, self-confidence •  Integrity, trustworthy, honest and open •  Empowers, develops potential •  Inspirational networker and promoter •  Accessible, approachable •  Clarifies boundaries, involves others in decisions •  Encourages critical and strategic thinking •  Political sensitivity and skills •  Genuine concern for others

Alban-Metcalfe, R J and Alimo-Metcalfe, B (2000)


Jim Collins- Good to Great - Level 5 leadership

Source: Good to Great,, Collins, 2001

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 5

Level 1

Level 5 Executive Builds enduring greatness through a blend of personal humility and professional will Effective leader Catalyses a commitment to a clear and compelling vision

Competent Manager Organises people and resources towards the pursuit of determined objectives Contributing Team Member Contributes individual capabilities towards the achievement of group objectives Highly Capable Individual Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills and good work habits


By 2008 we had a mass of information on how to be a successful leader.

What happened next?


What happened next?

80 percent of the American people believe there is a leadership crisis

Business leaders rank near the bottom of the list, with only 45 percent reporting confidence

Centre for Public Leadership at Harvard's Kennedy School 2008/9


What happened next?

The current economic crisis is catastrophic in so many ways, but it has proved to be a boon for those of us looking for examples of men and women who have failed to demonstrate

leadership when their moment came

Business Week, December 2008


What happened next?

A year after the stock market crash of 2008, business leaders ponder “the greed, the misjudgements, [and] the dreadful stupidity of men who should have known

better” during the financial crisis. In retrospect, managers ask, “What caused successful business

leaders to make astonishingly reckless decisions that are now viewed as a colossal failure of common

sense?”

University of Phoenix School of Advanced Studies 2010


In June 2009 Jack Welch said: ‘Don’t use the same notes you used in 2007. At MIT we

threw away the syllabus.’

He also said: ‘Talk about your real feelings. The last thing you want

to be is phoney.’

Jack Welch, SHRM Conference, New Orleans, 2009.


What can we learn about leadership from the experience of the past few

years?


Leadership - key

messages


All glory is fleeting- but who will tell the Emperor?

Leadership is most effective when governance processes are also in place- not

just at board level but at all levels


Leadership- lessons from the crisis 1

-Beware of hubris!

- Strike the right balance between dynamism and and conservatism

- Have high visibility when it’s right and low profile when it’s not

- Be authentic and have the right touch with stakeholders

- Show personal commitment to the company

- Communicate the company vision and strategy clearly and demonstrate that performance is being delivered against strategic objectives

- Don’t come across as being better than you are.

- Be accessible, wily, shrewd and confident; never be arrogant.


Leadership- lessons from the crisis 2

And please don’t forget that:

- Leadership is situational

- Leadership is non hierarchical

- Leadership is relational- there are no leaders without followers!

Source, Why Should Anyone be led by You, Goffee and Jones (2006)


Creating People Advantage Reflections on Leadership

Professor Paul Turner Ashcroft International Business School

Cambridge

Workforce planning right people, right time, right skills

creating people advantage reflections on leadership · creating people advantage reflections on...

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